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Ah, yes I had forgotten about the plate + fox in the NRM. Guess that at least one of the foxes on the wine bar isn't ex-loco then. The similarity is still remarkable though - perhaps the same sculptor got both gigs?!

Bit of a long shot this one, but it's been in my mind for a year or two. In central London near Moorgate there is a wine bar called Fox Fine Wines & Spirits, whose shop front and signage has an attractive black & silver art-deco styling. Either side of the company name are two silver foxes (see attached). It seems to me that these two foxes are almost identical to those fitted on A4 60017 'Silver Fox', being a pair which are right and left-hand facing, and about the same length, with same face and same bushy tail. I am wondering if somebody acquired the two fox sculptures after the loco was scrapped, and thought "they'll look good on the front of our shop"? I am almost certain they are the same design, if not the actual pair from the loco. What do others think?

I must admit that I either missed this, or with the excitement (?) of the last two years, had forgotten about it. I have subsequently registered my interest, including making a 'reservation' payment... so hopefully this may still come to pass (the website doesn't however seem to have any update on it).

As it's almost three years since I posed the original question, I thought I'd give this thread a bump, primarily to see if people have updated their thinking on the question of a RTR HST. Things have perhaps (?) moved forward in the O gauge RTR 'modern image' world (e.g. the post steam era), with a few new models, and a number of re-runs/re-tooling of previous offerings being announced, but still nothing on the HST... This may have been done to death previously, but I live in hope that one day some manufacturer is going to go for it... James

Hi All, I'm sure somebody on here will be able to help identify this 0-4-0 industrial loco. It's from an album of un-marked family pics dating from the mid 80s, but unfortunately I don't really have an idea what and where it might be. Any assistance in ID'ing this loco would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. James

Hi All, I recently took delivery of a Heljan Class 17 at a bargain price from one of the well known retailers. Upon commencing trial running it initially wouldn't move at all, but after some persuasion I got it going in one direction. It seems that there is an issue whereby it runs fine in one direction, but not in the other (on conventional DC). In the 'problem' direction it will crawl at dead slow speed for a few seconds until the controller trips out on short circuit. Before I either open it up and/or contact the retailer, I was just interested if anybody else had experience such an issue and if there was a simple solution? Thanks in advance James

IIRC this was a pre-advertised "Diesel Day". Attached are a few of my poor Instamatic pics... October '87 rings a bell. I recall being in the driver's seat of the 59 when it was moved a few feet (being driven from the other end). As an 11 year old, that was probably the highlight of my year!

Take your pick from this list... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LNER_Class_A1/A3_locomotives How about one of these: 4479 - Robert the Devil 2745 - Captain Cuttle 2506 - Salmon Trout If you're a fan of Star Trek, then there's always 4480 - Enterprise. oh, just one more thing - 2501 Colombo

Hi All, Just wondering if anybody else has had a similar issue to me with getting the roofs off their Mk.1 suburbans? (for installing passengers, toning down the lighting, etc). As per the instructions, the roof is held on with captive screws at each end which can be reached with a long screwdriver up thru' the floor (after the bogies have been removed) - no problem there - the same as the mainline coaches. However, on the Brake Second, and Second coaches, the 'path' for the screwdriver is partially blocked by the seating in the end compartments making it impossible to get even the smallest 'drive up thru the whole. Actually a relatively large Philips/posidrive screwdriver is needed due to the size of the screw head. As you can see from the attached pic, I ended up having to poke a drill thru' the hole in the floor and take a chunk out of the seat. Apart from the obvious visual issue, the process created hundreds of particles of plastic swarf which distributed itself around the inside of the coach, and which has proven very fiddly to remove (If you don't it looks awful, which destroys the otherwise excellent interior ambiance of the coach). Has anybody had the same problem, and if so did you find a way around it without resorting to surgery? Thanks James

Hi all, I have posted the following on the GoG RTR forum and had some interesting responses, so thought it might be worth a go here to catch a possibly slightly different audience. With apologies if this has been covered before, but what do people think are the chances of ever seeing a RTR HST in O gauge? Given that these trains are arguably one of the best British trains ever produced, and an integral part of the UK railway scene for at least 40 years, I am genuinely surprised that none of the bigger or even smaller RTR outfits don't seem to have considered 'doing' the HST. Maybe there just aren't enough 'modern image' modelers out there...? ** Of course there are some detail differences, and numerous livery choices, but when one thinks about it, the basic 2+7/8/9 rakes do not have that many variations compared to, say, the numerous types of Mk.1 that were produced. Maybe the demand isn't there, or maybe it's the price of full length rakes that manufacturers see as out of reach of many of their potential buyers? (Say ~£550 for power cars & ~£350 for Mk.3s = approx £3.5k for a 2+7 set). However, one does not necessarily need to buy all the coaches in one go, and people building up a set or two over a few years could be a form of repeat business for the manufacturer. There is the also the potential, with addition of buffing gear, to sell the loco hauled version of the Mk.3 as well which may appeal even to non HST folk. It may even be possible to replicate the OO approach and have one powered and one dummy power car to help keep the cost down... And who knows, maybe one day there would even be a limited edition prototype power car on the market, which surely would be of interest?! Interested in peoples' thoughts on this, and thanks in advance. James **- I'm really a steam/diesel transition era man, but would still like an HST as I am about the same age as the the train, and 'grew up with them' so to speak - I have almost certainly traveled more miles on HSTs than any other train...

This loading ramp seen this morning at Liverpool Street (Not Chesunt as indicated on the ramp). Interesting that the label refers to 'British Railways' - I thought that this was shortened to 'British Rail' in 1965 or thereabouts, and this ramp looks to be more modern than that.

Hi All, Does anybody know of a reference or have definitive knowledge of the issue of loco lamp colours? i.e. is there a 'correct' colour of lamp body for a particular company/era? For example, I understand that LMS lamps should be black bodied, and the photo record generally seems to confirm this, as it does that BR(M) appeared to migrate towards using white bodies (but in some cases black lamps seem to have been used quite late on into the steam era). I think SR and LNER lamps were always white bodied?, and then of course there is the GWR with their red lamps. Is there any 'correct' time span for these? Was is a GWR only thing or did it live on into BR(W) days? Just wondering if there is a reliable answer to which colour applies to which company and/or period? It seems to be a bit of a minefield. Thanks in advance for any light which can be shed... James

Hello, With reference to your first photo, are you potentially confusing a missing roof hatch with what is actually the exhaust port? https://flic.kr/p/9VBNm9 (Not my photo) Regards James

Thanks Neal - glad to hear that it isn't just me then. I'll do some more investigation and look more closely at the wheels - but ultimately I probably ought to get into contact with Dapol like you suggest. Cheers James

Hi all, Just wondering if anybody has had trouble with the crankpins coming adrift on the Jinty? I had one come out of the RT wheel after only about 5 mins of moderate speed running, causing an abrupt stop as the coupling rod came loose and started thrashing about on the ballast. Upon investigating further it seems the crank pins are screwed into the wheel, and on my model there was only a tiny amount of thread engaging in the hole - probably less than one full thread of whatever fine series metric thread it is. At first I though the crank pin on this wheel had sheared off, but on removing another one as a test, this looked similar. This would seem rather worrying as it won’t be long before more failures are experienced on the rest of my fleet. Right now it looks like I might have to contemplate major re-work to the wheels/crankpins which, if it’s even possible, will be a right pain (and shouldnt be necessary on an RTR model). Grateful fo any words of wisdom or experience of others. Thanks and Merry Christmas James

On the rods, I rubbed them down with a fibre pen, and then gave them a coat of grey primer. Then a couple of coats of thinned yellow. Did all this in situ as I couldn't be bothered to take them off.

Hi All from a very occasional contributor. I have to say that I am very pleased with the 08 and think it's good value for money. The two or three that I've had on test so far seem to pull well and be quite sure-footed even on pretty heavy trains. I've decided to try and do a few 'specials' and thought people might be interested in the first attempt... at representing 08 601 in its 'fake' LMS livery from the late 80s. Just need to find somebody who can do the 'SPECTRE' nameplates now... Would be interested to see if anybody else has done any custom or special paint jobs. Cheers James